Postcard Exchange!

This is my first installment for our 50 State Postcard Exchange, started by Cheryl Saoud! I am absolutely loving being part of this - it has opened up so many questions and ideas for my firsties!
Here is the bulletin board where we are displaying our post cards. It's nothing fancy right now, but we'll be adding to it as we get more cards and do more research! Please excuse my license with state borders, it was a bit difficult to trace the map!


As we receive the post cards we are looking up the state and compiling a list of questions for the class. Here are the states we have received so far and the corresponding questions. I don't have Skype at school, so I'm hoping that if I post here that the other teachers in the exchange will answer in the comments so I can show my class :)
 The first state we got a card from was Illinois, which is coincidentally my home state! My firsties were so excited to see the state where I am from (Elmhurst, Il) and I was able to provide a  lot of information about it. Here are the questions we came up with for Mrs. Draftkorn's class:
Have you ever drunk milk straight from a cow? What kind of activities do you do for Lincoln's birthday? Since you attend a private school, do you wear uniforms? What kinds of things do you do after school in a small town?
 Next we received a card from Ms. Stephanie's class in New Jersey! We wanted to know:
What is that amusement park on your post card? Have you been there on a field trip? You mentioned beaches - do you go to the beach on field trips? Since you are a kindergarten class, do you have nap time or center time? Do you go to school the whole day?

 We were so excited to get this card from Ms. Petersen's class in California! We have a student who just moved here from California, her mane is Andi! We also a student named Marc who visited California this summer - he drove all the way from Lawton, OK to Anaheim, CA with his family! You mentioned that you are between the mountains. How many mountains do you have? We are close to the Wichita Mountains and some of us go up to Mount Scott with our families for picnics. Do you ever visit your mountains? What is your state animal/bird/butterfly?

 Kansas is right on top of Oklahoma! That is so neat! Your card said you have 18 students in your class. We have 20 students in our class (a difference of 2!) Do you think you'll get more students soon? Do you have any class pets? We have  hermit crabs, a common house gecko and a tree frog. What is your favorite book? Do you write class books? We love writing, we're making a book based on Mo Willem's Pigeon books.
 Do you eat a lot of sunflower seeds in Kansas since it is your state flower?

 Next up was a card from Ms. Kennedy's class in Louisiana. We loved your card! We're not sure why the big craw fish is cooking the little craw fish though. We haven't tried craw fish yet - what does it taste like? We were so excited to see that you live in your state's capital! Have you been to your capital building or seen your governor? Do you like jazz music? Can you tell us what Baton Rouge means and why your city is called that?

Our latest card was from Ms. Cooper's class in Montana. We were fascinated by the grizzly bear on your card! Do you see any bears around your school? Is it your state animal? How much snow do you get in the winter? Do you have a lot of snow days where you get time off school? You mentioned the Yogo Sapphire, where do sapphires come from? Can you tell us about your state flower, the Bitterroot?

We can't wait to get answers to our questions and receive more cards! We are even more excited to see what you want to learn about Oklahoma!

11 comments:

Barbara said...

Howdy! If you need someone from TX, let me know and I'll hook you up! This is SO cool; don't you L.O.V.E. Cheryl??

Barbara
The Corner On Character

Mrs.M said...

Hello from KS! So glad you got our mail! We are not anticipating any new students any time soon! We do not have any class pets, although they would be fun! Our favorite book right now is Big Pumpkin! We did a play based on that book. We love to write too! Write now we are writing small moment stories. We do love sunflower seeds! We eat them a lot in the summer, it's fun to crack the shells open!

Unknown said...

My new blog look is up thanks to you! :)
Loving it! Thank you again! :)
Cheryl
Crayons and Curls

Unknown said...

Hi! I'm Mrs. Dews, the one with the postcard from Montana. No, we don't see grizzlies near the school, but we can see them if we take a drive to Yellowstone National Park, which is about a 2 hour drive from our school. We get very few snow days because our city is equipped to deal with the snow here and we are used to driving in it. It's been about 15 years since we've had a snow day. You can Google a picture of our state flower. The bitterroot grows low to the ground, so we sometimes don't even notice them.

Unknown said...

Thanks for visiting me and grabbing my button! :)
Cheryl

Anonymous said...

Any chance you need a postcard from Nevada? I would love to join your list.

Terri from Elko, NV
tizatt@ecsdnv.net

Stephanie said...

Greeting from NJ! Thank you so much for the questions. The amusement park on our postcard is actually an amusement pier off of a boardwalk in one of our beach towns, Wildwood. We would love to go to some place like that for a field trip; however, there are not many rides suitable for our age group. And the owner of our school would not feel comfortable letting us go to the beach, it is too big & she would be afraid of us getting lost, so it is up to our parents to take us there. Our Kindergarten is full day from 8:30-2:30 and no we do not have nap time, but yes we do have center time. Literacy centers in the morning & free choice centers in the afternoon. One of our favorite choice centers is Kitchen/Dramatic Play. We look forward to receiving your postcard!

Buzzin' on Cupcakes in 1st Grade! said...

I am totally stealing your giant United States idea. I will get our South Dakota postcards out Monday friends!!!

Marcy @ http://busybeesandcupcakes.blogspot.com

Missy Kennedy said...

We are so happy that you liked our card! We are not sure why the big crawfish is cooking the little one either. Perhaps he is just taking a hot bath.

Crayfish taste similar to shrimp. If you think of them like little lobsters, they will be easier to eat. We hear that people outside our state use them for bait while fishing. We don't, we just eat them.

Yes, we have been to the state capitol. We actually have two capitol buildings. One is called the old state capitol and the other is called the new state capitol. The old state capitol looks like a castle and the new state capitol is the tallest in the nation. Visit our blog to see pictures from our fieldtrip on our Louisiana Page. FYI - Our state will celebrate 200 years of statehood in April 2012.

I do like jazz. I especially love Louis Armstrong. I am a native New Orleanian. (This is Mrs. Kennedy's answer)

Baton Rouge is a french word and means "red stick." Pierre Le Moyne, Sieur d'Iberville (French explorer) saw a red cypress pole covered with bloody animals. He called the spot "Baton Rouge" meaning red stick. This stick separated the Houma and Goula Indians hunting grounds. The name has been used ever since. The indians called the spot Istrouma. Today we have interpreted the word Istrouma to mean "red stick."

Thank you for the questions. Visit our blog and answer questions that will be posted when we receive your postcard.

Missy Kennedy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Missy Kennedy said...

I forgot to answer one of your questions. Yes, I have seen the governor. I met him and had a picture taken with him. His name is Bobby Jindal.

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